Local authorities
From commercial buildings to residential flats, we have gained over ten years of experience in a range of contexts, working closely and building long standing relationships with local authorities.
Client: London Borough of Lewisham
Project type: commercial
Property type: decommissioned youth club
Duration: 3 years
# of guardians: 14
# of properties: 1
# of inspections: 173
Client savings: > £28,000
Social impact: >1,500 hours of volunteering, or the equivalent of >£16.7k worth of social value
We partnered with London Borough of Lewisham and Grove Park Youth Club Building Preservation Trust in August 2018 to care for a decommissioned youth club. The loss of the youth club, and the youth services they provided, hit the Grove Park community hard. The Building Preservation Trust was founded by a group of locals with the aim of reviving the building and bringing it back to its former use. The trust reached out to Dot Dot Dot in 2018 after hearing about our work and social purpose.
Aside from living in and securing the building, our guardians contributed their voluntary hours to the renovation of the youth club. They arranged community clean-up days, put together plans for a community garden, wrote funding bids, recruited volunteers and supported stakeholder management.
“For me, the benefit of being a property guardian is that I live somewhere that doesn’t contribute to London’s housing crisis. We make good use of buildings that would otherwise stand empty or be developed, and I am able to live with others and together we are working in and contributing to the local community.”
Killian Troy
BPT trustee, Grove Park local and former Dot Dot Dot guardian
After a successful handback to London Borough of Lewisham, the newly-restored youth club reopened its doors on 26th July 2021 for the first time in eight years. We’re proud to have played a key role in the process to revive a lost community asset and return it to its original purpose.
Client: Newham Council
Project type: regeneration
Property type: self-contained flats
Duration: ongoing
# of guardians: 172
# of properties: 66
Client savings: >£500,000
Social impact: 33,500 hours of volunteering, or the equivalent of >£364,000 of social value
We partnered with Newham Council in 2016 to secure a variety of properties across Newham, east London during the council’s large-scale regeneration of the area. We took on the management of over 60 self-contained 2-bed flats, housing 172 guardians across the lifetime of the project. Altogether, our guardians contributed approximately £364,000 of social value to good causes in their local area and further afield.
Similar to Dot Dot Dot, Newham Council is committed to creating social value in east London, in particular through their Community Wealth Building initiative. Our aligned values provided a strong foundation for our partnership, and we are proud to have collaborated with Newham Council and Civic, an organisation that supports the development of new civic infrastructure, to reutilise disused retail spaces for community use.
“Dot Dot Dot volunteers have been an invaluable resource in our journey to reopen the high street. They have given back to the community in more ways than one. Together we’ve launched a fruit and veg pop up shop, a podcast and rehearsal room, a hanging garden, a Covid-19 response and so much more. It’s been incredibly fun and they feel like part of the team.”
Paige Perillat
Civic
Dot Dot Dot was able to assist Civic through our partnership with Newham Council, by connecting local guardians in Canning Town and Custom House to Civic’s volunteering opportunities. Guardians have helped to transform Custom House Civic Community Hub in a number of ways, including painting a mural, building outdoor furniture, and helping out in the community garden.
